5 brilliant ideas for Mother’s day- #1 the Kindle 2

Ah ha! A little lite on ideas for Mother’s day this year? Maybe you could get some popsicle sticks and a little Elmers. Hey, it works for the kids! I’m sure she’ll treasure it always. Especially if you make a convertible Mustang or a hot Brazilian towel boy out of them.
If that doesn’t appeal to you, then I have 5 ideas that might work for you. In the next 5 entries I will introduce you to some tech gifts that will thrill the “mother” in your life.
Oh? She’s not a “tech” type of person. Don’t be so sure. I’m talking about the kind of Tech that fits into a Mom’s life, not takes it over. Ready? Here we go.

The Kindle 2

Does that mom in your life read? Does she enjoy a good book, or possibly a even nicer trashy one? Whether she goes for the fate of the vanishing Polar bear or enjoys some private time with a good “bodice ripper”, consider a Kindle.

Amazon introduced the Kindle about two years ago and they have been sold out ever since. Why is that? Because, while there have been quite a few tries at electronic books before, this one has major advantages. It as easy as a real book to use, reads just like a real book, cuts out the whole going to the store to get the sequel trip, and best of all, is much lighter and easier to carry than a book. There is one other major advantage, it has the huge library of Amazon.com behind it.

No one will read an “electronic” book.
I have several friends who were adamantly against electronic books, now they are all curling up in front of the fire, or sunning themselves on the beach with their Kindles. They are reading while waiting at the doctor’s office, or propped up with pillows in bed at night. As much as they loved the feel of turning real pages, it was the story that they really liked. Now they can have over 1500 of their favorite stories in a slim, portable package.

With a Kindle you don’t need a computer or have any kind of technical ability. It has been designed with readers in mind, not computer geeks. If mom can press a button, she can love a Kindle. She may not even need her glasses, the text size is adjustable on the paper-like screen of the Kindle. That’s the best part, the screen is really like reading a paper book. Easy on the eyes, viewable at all angles, just like paper, and much lighter than most hardbacks. Did I mention, the books are cheaper as well?

Most brand new, “hot off the presses” books for the Kindle are 10 bucks, however, a great deal of the 265,000 kindle books are a lot less, including a wide selection of free ones like “The Cook’s Illustrated How-to-Cook library: An illustrated guide to foolproof cooking” from the editors of Cooks Illustrated. Careful about getting that one for her, Mother’s day should be controversy-free. Amazon offers most, or all of the best sellers in Kindle format, publishers and authors have really caught on to the potential.

However, The Kindle also works with all sorts of books and text that are not from Amazon. So, there really is no limit to the stuff to read. You can even put your own documents on there. I want to use my wife’s for the shopping list, but alas, there’s no getting it away from her.

Now for some of the aesthetic stuff, which counts to moms (and the rest of us as well). Does the Kindle look like a weird device, some kind of sci-fi alien brain dissolver, guaranteed to make mom look weird in public? A resounding “NO!”. The Kindle 2 is a sleek, white, 10 oz, 8 by 5 and a half inch tablet. Smaller and thinner that the books it replaces, the kindle fits nicely in most purses, providing a great separator between the checkbook, wallet and the rest of the necessary junk in there. Although, go for the leather Kindle case. It opens like a book, and provides an air of sophistication as well as protection for the Kindle. Kindles have no lights, wires or complicated controls. It takes no longer to start reading than a book, and you never loose your place; the Kindle knows exactly which page you were on, no matter how many books you’re reading.

We could go on and on talking about all of the enhancements Kindles bring to reading; Stereo music, a built-in book reader (it will read any book you have, to you), free wireless for both buying new books and cruising the Internet, as well as an astounding battery life. But the real deal here, is that the Kindle is simply great for reading. The black and white screen is pleasing and eye-strain free, page turning is silent, and the whole package is perfect for snuggling under the covers.

The Kindle is not a cheep device, but then again, neither are you. A kindle will set you back $360, but what you will have is a well thought out, high quality product that will deliver years and years of happy service. This is a great present for a reader, blows the doors of a new vacuum (you weren’t really thinking about that were you? Shame!) or some ill-though out jewelry gift. This is a present she will use, every day.

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About Prentiss Gray

Prentiss Gray is a writer and stay at home Dad with 27 years in the information systems and technology business. After the death of his first wife, he decided to stay home and care for his three sons. During that time he discovered that his life long passion for technology had new worlds to explore. Lurking throughout his home, fascinating technologies were just waiting to be investigated.
Little by little, he began to crack the enigmas of washing machines and vacuums. He worked diligently to break the secret codes of wireless telephones and kitchen faucets and fought to understand why toasters and rice makers needed chips more advanced than those that flew on the Apollo moon missions.
The ongoing battle is endless, but he has developed a new attitude toward domestic technology. To clear out the complicated, to shun the needless effort necessary to deal with devices and products that do not serve their owners as much as confuse and frustrate them. In short, to seek out the domestic products that are have excellent quality, a reasonable price and are truly intuitive to use. His new battle cry is “If you have to read the manual to use it, I don’t want one.”

5 Responses to 5 brilliant ideas for Mother’s day- #1 the Kindle 2

Five INNOVATIVE Stars!! My newest FAVORITE ebook reader!! I am an avid eBook reader with a large ebook library split between home computers and on-line eBook company bookshelves using four different eBook readers: the original Adobe Reader (and the new Digital Editions), Palm, and eReader systems. So Kindle 2 is revealed as an evolutionary, versatile reader that will solve the old eBook platform problems for the future (those who had ebooks that were ‘fenced off’ by the original Adobe reader know what I’m talking about) with other features. My first Kindle 2 purchase was “Accountable” by Tavis Smiley and the process was “one click” easy, downloading in 15 seconds (with no computer between me and the book) because my Kindle 2 already ‘knew’ my Amazon account. And the book reads great. Add to this the wireless delivery of magazines

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